13/05/2026
âWhat's It?â Wednesday
The other day we sold a charger.
Today we thought we'd ask âWhy's It?â as much as âWhat's It?â
To most people a charger will be something akin to the following:
Def: âa device used to put energy into a secondary cell or rechargeable battery by forcing an electric current through it.â
Or, as one of the team immediately thought:
Def: âA large horse ridden by a knight or cavalry officer in battle.â
But we had sold:
A large, decorative plate!
Why is that called a charger?
Transpires this stems from the Latin root carricare, meaning "to load" which was the basis for the 13th-century Middle English word chargeour, meaning a large platter used for carrying or loading heavy items.
In Medieval times the charger would sit centrally on the table, loaded up for everyone, and guests would help themselves from it.
It was only as part of Victorian Etiquette in the 19th century, when individual service became standard, that the massive platter shrank and moved from the centre of the table to become a decorative base under individual plates â which we may now also know as chargers.
We hope weâve charged you with food for thought! đ
